This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Huntington's disease (HD) is a disorder characterized by motor and psychiatric dysfunction. Clinical phenotypes at advanced stages include increased development of choreic movements and dementia. This study is directed at determining biomarkers in neurodegenerative disease. Previous studies showed increased levels of oxidative damage markers in HD. There is evidence that intermediates in the serotonin pathway produce free radicals and contribute to oxidative damage and that other intermediates in this pathway play a neuroprotective role. Initial studies suggested the possibility that oxidized 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) products bind to protein in HD. We studied interactions of oxidized 5-HTP with angiotensin and equine apomyoglobin using novel high capacity electrochemical (EC) synthesis cells and parallel LC/EC-LC/MS. Samples of 5-HTP were oxidized at a variety of potentials in an EC synthesis cell with angiotensin and equine apomyoglobin. Optimal oxidation potential was found to be 500 mV. Angiotensin, was reacted with 5-HTP offline in an EC synthesis cell. Eluent was collected and analyzed on the parallel LC/EC-LC/MS system (ESA CoulArray 4 channel EC system and reversed phase column with Sciex QStar QoTOF MS). Oxidized 5-HTP products (m/z 219.007 and 233.056) were found to form adducts with angiotensin. The suggested reaction site of the oxidized 5-HTP is at the meta-position on tyrosine. Equine apomyoglobin, was reacted with 5-HTP in an EC synthesis cell. The eluent was subsequently collected and digested with trypsin. The parallel LC/EC-LC/MS system was used to elucidate structures of conjugated apomyoglobin (ESA CoulArray 4 channel EC system and reversed phase column with Applied Biosystems Q-Trap 2000 MS). Oxidized 5-HTP products (m/z 203.058 and 217.037) were found to form adducts on a fragment with m/z 1884.061. We have found that an offline EC synthesis cell can be used effectively to produce oxidation products of 5-HTP and reaction products of 5-HTP with angiotensin and equine apomyoglobin. Adducts are being characterized by to-down sequencing on the LTQ-Orbitrap and by peptide mapping. In a second study, the metabolites of sodium phenyl butyrate, a drug currently in clinical trials for treatment of HD, and endogeneous metabolites elevated by SPB treatment, were determined in plasma and urine samples of patients over the course of treatment. This system serves as a model for investigating redox reactions and metabolic pathways that occur as a consequence of disease state. One manuscript describing the SPB studies was published last year. In the current period, a detailed paper that describes the identification of unknown metabolites and other components that vary between controls and patient samples, was published in Analytical Biochemistry (EN Ebbel et al., Identification of phenylbutyrate-generated metabolites in Huntington disease patients using parallel liquid chromatography/electrochemical array/mass spectrometry and off-line tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Biochem. 2010, 399, 152-161.).